HAVING wasted £500,000 on a ludicrous town centre traffic scheme which benefits nobody, and paying for a silly mail shot asking if we want a directly-elected mayor, it's hardly surprising that this year's council taxes and rents are rising three times faster than the inflation rate.

Councillor Derek Boden admits these increases will not go down well and yet he will no doubt sanction more schemes that will waste more of our money because that is one thing that Bury Council are good at.

Does he seriously think that making life difficult for the motorist at the same time that local bus services are being cut is a sensible way to run this town? Council tax revenue will be lost as more shops close and businesses relocate to towns where grants are being made available by the Government to attract them.

If democracy still applies in Bury, then I would welcome a sensible mail-out asking the following question:

Do the residents of Bury prefer:

1. No tax increase and a three per cent cut in services;

2. A three per cent tax increase and no cut in services;

3. A six per cent tax increase and three per cent increase in services.

In Bristol where it was recently tried, the vast majority voted the first option and later told the local newspaper that voting that way was the only way to prevent councillors wasting their money.

So, Coun Boden, we look forward to receiving the ballot papers before you increase next year's council tax.

M. SHIELD,

Hornsea Close,

Bury